I am choosing to be healhy

Hi everyone! I was reading our blog the last couple of days. I've been a part of this blog from the start but only a watcher and not the contributor I should be. This last nine months or so I have been taking care of my mom who is in bad health. Watching her struggles has been an eye opener for sure. I have begun taking steps to improve her health and mine. She and other members of the family are resistant but we are getting there.

I am choosing to be healthy.

I have taken on a new goal to workout hard (working up a sweat) for 30 minutes a day as many times a week as I can but no less than 4. I have made similar goals before but it was too rigid. Say I'd plan to workout 5 days a week for 30 minutes and found that it was easier to give up when a busy week or bad day made me skip a day here and there. In leaving the number of minutes, times per day and days per week open has left my mind open. In the past a few busy or lazy days would mean the end of my good intentions. I no longer think that a bad day or a busy week is a reason to give up. I know I can pick it back up when I can fit it in. So what if I can only get in a 15 one day I know I can maybe put in an hour or even more. I realized that squeezing in what I can when I can is working for me. For the last month I have been doing very well. I am averaging 3 - 6 days a week and whenever possible I put in extra time or more workouts per day. The goal is not to lose weight although that would be a nice secondary benefit the goal is to keep moving and get healthy. I was injured nearly 12 years ago and have decided to work through the pain in hopes of lessening the pain.

Over the last year I have changed the way I cook and eat. The secondary benefit to this is that I cook and everyone in the house benefits. I cut down on my use of oils and changed to good oils if I need to use oil. I moved to whole grain everything I can (bread, pasta, tortillas). I incorporate more fruits and vegetables every day. My choice of meat is always lean and generally white but has been for years. Snack foods in the last few months have been carrots, fruit, celery, nuts and an occasional piece of dark chocolate. (Nobody is perfect, lol.) I don't say never to anything but any splurge is watched, not criticized and in moderation.

I want to be stronger, have more stamina and maybe drop a few pounds along the way. So why are you choosing to be healthy?